For a really special outing, OVO Cirque du Soleil at London’s Royal Albert Hall is a unique night to remember. With spectacular acrobatics and unbelievable feats of movement, the performance will have you on the seat of your chair – each act more audacious than the last.
This year’s show, set against a striking visual backdrop of giant flowers and a towering 19-meter climbing wall, brings to life the colourful world of insects – crickets, ants, butterflies, spiders, beetles, and more. Identifying them is part of the fun with some, such as the elongated green crickets, and the yellow and black striped bees easier to guess than others.
The set design has been changed from the original in 2009. Some of the original characters remain but there are now new acts, added costumes and reinvented music, including high-energy Brazilian-inspired soundtracks. OVO, egg in Portuguese, Cirque du Soleil brings to the stage high-level acrobatic acts redefining the limits of the human body, undeniably executed by double-jointed artists.
The cast of fifty-three acrobats and musicians perform breathtaking acts like aerial silks, Chinese poles, trampoline wall, contortion, foot juggling, cradle, and slackwire. It is difficult to say which act is the best as each one is different and spellbinding. For me, the most hair-raising, in the second half, is the trapeze performance executed high up in the auditorium, where numerous performers swing and twirl between three landing stages.
Acrobats
It’s not just the aerobics that are beyond belief; cricket acrobats bounce up the trampoline wall in just one go. Each act brings something different, but whatever it is, the artists manoeuvre themselves into positions that seem impossible. From a spider contorting herself inside her web to another balancing on a tightrope.
Inter-twinned within the performance is a rather absurd love story between a quirky fly and a spirited ladybug which unfolds around a mysterious egg. To my mind, it is unnecessary, and I wonder why they incorporated such nonsense into an otherwise exceptional evening.
Cirque du Soleil exudes extraordinary showmanship – a performance like no other. Comprised in its entirety of 100 people from 25 different countries, it is so unique that once seen, it will be remembered forever.
Ovo Cirque du Soleil is on until 1st March 2026.
Running from Tuesday to Sunday, performances are approximately two hours long with an interval. Worth noting that times and days of performances vary.
- Tuesdays at 7.30pm
- Wednesdays at 7.30pm
- Thursdays at 7.30pm
- Fridays at 3.30pm (except 9/1) and 7.30pm
- Saturdays at 11.30am (except 10/1 & 7/2), 3.30pm and 7.30pm
- Sundays at 1.30pm & 5.30pm (01/3 at 11.30am & 3.30pm)
Address: Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AP. royallberthall.com
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